Page 4 of Deadly Protector
CHAPTERTWO
The same question kept replaying over in Zamira’s mind as she pulled down her street. She’d taken an extra-long route home, and hadn’t seen anyone who looked as if they’d been following her. But she still didn’t feel better—because how had Kurt Ryba known she’d be at the beach?
She posted kitesurfing pictures on social media, but all her accounts were private. It seemed crazy that he’d followed her there, but…maybe it wasn’t actually crazy. She couldn’t understand why he’d want to talk to her though. He’d been friends with her deceased husband and she was pretty sure they’d probably been involved in criminal activities together.
As in, stealing cars.
Something she hadn’t been aware of until right before Lucas had died. He’d been killed in a car accident that had been deemed just that, an accident. But…after learning the truth about him she’d always wondered if maybe there was more to it. Whether maybe someone he’d been involved with had killed him. She had no way of knowing, however. The cops had done an investigation and it had been listed as an accident. But it had never sat right with her.
She’d been so oblivious to that part of his life until one night he’d shown up at home covered in blood from a fight. He’d told her that he’d robbed the wrong guy with one of his “friends” and that she needed to go stay with her mom for a few days. So she’d taken the kids, who’d barely been one, and done just that.
Then…days later he’d been gone. She hadn’t had time to process the fact that he’d been lying to her about who he was, much less process his death.
Even now, that part of her life seemed like a dream. Like, who had she even been back then?
Sighing, she pulled into her garage, but left the door open so she could unload her parachute. She still needed to do a thorough cleanout of the tubing on the kite to make sure no sand had built up. It took extra time, but she did it after every single session on the water. And it was why her parachute had lasted so long. As she was wrapping up, she heard her phone ringing from her backpack and nearly dove for it, thinking it was one of her kids.
But it was Dimitri.
She stared at the screen, her heart rate kicking up. They texted a couple times a week and occasionally met up for lunch if he was in the area near her work. She hadn’t been his physical therapist for months so she was glad that she got to see him still. Even if she felt a little out of control when she was around him. Not in a wild way, just…she was so attracted to him and it scared her. She hadn’t been with a man in a very long time and everything about Dimitri was intense.
So of course she answered. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself. How’re you handling the kids being gone?”
She paused, pleased that he’d remembered. “It’s only been a few hours, so relatively well. I spent the day out on the water which helped balance me out.”
“Nice. Are you done for the day or did you want to grab dinner?”
“I’d love to.” She jumped at the offer because if she was being honest with herself, she was scared to be alone. Not because her kids were gone, but because Kurt showing up at the beach today had rattled her. She still couldn’t believe he’d just randomly known she’d be there.
Deep down she knew it wasn’t random. He had to have followed her. Which meant he might know where she lived. It certainly wasn’t a secret, likely wouldn’t be hard to find out. She simply couldn’t understand why he wanted to talk to her. She just knew she didn’t want to be cornered by him again.
She realized Dimitri hadn’t responded. “You still there?”
“Yeah, and great. I’ll pick you up at six thirty if that works?”
“Perfect.” It would give her enough time to shower and get ready. “I’ll text you my address.”
After they disconnected, she realized she had no idea what to wear. She hadn’t been on a date in over a decade. Wait, was this even a date? Dinner felt different than casual lunch meetups. A wave of doubt swept through her. What the hell was she thinking?
“Get over yourself,” she muttered to herself. This might not even be a date. He’d just asked her to dinner all casually. Friends did that, right? Gah. She’d figure it out later.
Either way, she was going to look amazing.
After hurriedly packing up her parachute and dumping her bathing suit and towel in the laundry room, she raced to her shower.
And couldn’t fight the buzz of energy inside her. She had a date with Dimitri.
Probably.
After she’d showered and dried her hair, she called her sister Clarita using the video option.
Her sister thankfully picked up after a couple rings. “Hey, what’s up? How are you doing?” Her expression was one of concern.
“I’m great,” she said hurriedly. “And I have a date and he’s going to be here in twenty minutes, and I have no clue what to wear.”
Clarita’s dark eyes widened and she actually squealed. Her older sister, who’d just turned thirty-three, sounded like a teenager. “Hey, don’t judge! I’m allowed to be excited,” she said when she saw Zamira’s expression.
